Grand-piano action.



v. H. BROWN.

GRAND PIANO ACTION.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 24, IBM.

Patented Nov. 28, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

- V0750 HBI'OWH vl H. BROWN.

7 GRAND PIANO ACTION.

APPLICATION FILED NOV-24.1914.

1 ,206,509. Patented Nov. 28, 1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

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vmsorr H. BROWN, or SPOKANE, WASHINGTON.

GRAND-PIANO ACTION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 24, 1914. Serial No. 873,739.

Spokane, in the county of Spokane and State of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Grand- Piano Actions, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in repeating actions for grand pianos.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a stop in such overhanging relation with respect to the repetition lever that it will limit upward movement of the latter. Thus the objectionable feature of limiting upward movement of the repetition lever by contact of the free end of the latter with the hammer rail flange, is entirely avoided, and as a result of this feature, I also avoid slotting the repetition lever so that the jack can engage the repetition lever throughout the full area of the end of the jack thereby greatly reducing wear upon-the felt.

A further object of the invention is to provide a stop for the repetition lever supported on the flange post, and a plurality of independent flange posts secured to and rising from the flange rail, such flange posts each being capable of pivotally mounting the support, carrying the repetition lever stop, and providing a hammer rest.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved stop for the jack, the stop being mounted upon the support for arresting movement of the jack away from the repetition lever, and in this connection, it is a novel feature of this invention to provide an additional stop carried by the support for limiting retraction movement of the jack. p

The device of my invention has many other objects and features which will be more fully described in connection with the accompanying drawings, and which will be more particularly pointed out in and by the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view, with parts in elevation, of one form of my improved piano action showing the key in a normal position. Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the parts in position which they would assume after the hammer has struck the string and illustrating the manner in which the hammer is checked. Fig. 3 is an instantaneous view after the key is partly released for a new stroke but before the jack has had time to engage the member 34. Fig. 4 is a later mstanta-neous view of the parts just beforethe jack escapes from the member 34. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the action with the key omitted. Fig. 6is a perspective view of a portion of an improved fixed repetition lever stop. Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view showing a modified form of mounting the fixed repetition-lever stop. Fig. 8 is a plan view thereof.

Like characters of reference designate similar parts throughout the different figures of the drawings.

As illustrated, 1 designates a key which is mounted for rocking movement upon a bal ance rail punching 2 of a key balance rail 3. At the finger end of the key I have shown a regulator 4 provided with a felt 5 for limiting depression of the finger end of the key 1 and at the hammer end of the key, a back rail key cloth 6 is provided for limiting descent of the hammer end of the key. A support rail 7 and a hammer flange rail 8 are shown mounted upon action brackets 9, one only being shown, the brackets also carrying a regulating rail 10. Hammer shank flange 11 is mounted upon the. hammer flange rail 8 and a hammer shank 12 is pivoted to flange 11, at 13. The hammer shank 12 is equipped with a hammer butt 14 and a hammer head 15, the latter being provided with the usual under-felt 16 and hammer felt 17 One of the strings is indicated at 18.

The key 1 is provided with the usual key blocking 19 to which and to the key the back check wire 20 is secured, and on the wire 20 is secured a back check 21 provided with a back check felt 22 and a back check leather 23.

A support flange post 24, for each unit is mounted upon the support rail 7 and a support 25 is pivoted to flange post 24, at 26. The support 25 is provided with a bottom cloth 27 for engagement with the head of a capstan screw 28, mounted upon the key 1, for actuating support25 when key 1 is depressed. The support 25 is provided with a post 29 to which a repetition lever 30 is pivoted, at 31. The lever 30 does not directly engage the hammer butt 14 but acts thereagainst through an intermediate finger 32, which is pivoted to repetition lever 30 by a pivot 33. The finger 32 is provided with a hammer butt felt 34, for engagement with the hammer butt 14, and the finger 32 Patented Nov. 28, 1916.

is capable of slight independent movement with respect to the repetitionlever'30.

A support stop for limiting movement of the repeating lever away from thesupport, takes the form of a screw 35, which is threaded into the support and which extends through the repetition lever 30, the? latter having a felt 36 for engagement with the head 37- of the screw 35. A stop for the repetition lever is provided which takes the form of an arm 38, fixed to the support flange post 24 through the outer end of which is adjustably secured a stop; screw 39, th'e'head 40 of which is adapted to be engaged by the felt 36. The screw 39 is pro'videdwithfla slotted end 41 so that it can be adjusted in the arm 38, as desired;

The repetition lever 30 is normally held displaced away from the support at an angle" limited by the repetition lever stop head 37, bymeans wl'1ich"takes the form of aspring 42. One end of spring 42 is'conv'oluted about a pin 43, in the" repetition levcr30, one end 44 of the spring being extended under the repetition lever so as to stress the spring for displacing the rope tition lever 30 away from the support The remaining end of spring 42 is connected by a leather 45, with a jack 46. Jack 46is in the form of a two armed lever, the foot 47 thereof extending at an angle to jack 46. Jack 46 is pivoted at 48 to the support 25 in such amanner that the foot 47 will lie in range for engagement with the felt 49 of the head 50, of a regulating rail screw 51. Screw 51 is threaded into, so as to be adjustable with respect to, regulating rail. 10 so as to regulate or time the moment of impact of the terminal of foot 47 with'the felted head The head 52 of the jack 46, is arranged for engagement with the felt 34 of finger 32 for the purpose of actuating the hammer shank. However, at certain periods, the jack 46 is withdrawn from engagement with the felt 34 and at other periods it is restored to an engaging position with the felt 34.

The device of this invention includes improveds'top mechanism for limiting oscillation or to and fro movement of jack 46 to and from anoperative' or actuating position with respect to felt 34, and said stop mechanism will now be described in' detail.

A retractive jack stop'is providedwhich coml iri'sxes" a wire 53*, which is secured to and'which eXtendsjupwardly from the sup' port 25 for a suitable distance at which point it is bent at an angle, as at 54, so as to extend by one sideof the jack 46. The terminal end of the angular extension is bent at an-jangle' ais-indicatedi at 55. 'A felt 56, mounted on the jack 46, is interposed betweenfith'e jack and the angular stop'termimar 55 so that retracted movement of the jack 46 to the right in Fig. 1, under the remembered that this retractive movement of the'jack' 46 is resisted by jack spring 42. '.]T he importance of this retractive ack stop is very material inasmuch as it prevents movement. ofthe jack 46 toward a retracted position beyond an absolutely necessary point so as to insure proper return of jack 46 intosubjacent'coacting relation with felt A regulating button,for limiting movementof the jack toward an operative position: under felt 34', comprises a screw 57 which is threaded in the jack 46, and which is provided with a head 58 having a felted terminal 59 for coaction with theretractive stop 53, as willbe seen more particularly by reference to Figs. 1 and 4. Adjustment is not so material as regardslretractive movement of the jack away from felt as it is with regard to operative movement of the jack under felt 34', it being understood that theescapement or "eleasing actionof jack46, with respect to felt neces sitat-es only a partial movement of the jack into 'subjacen't relation with felt 34 so as thereby to facilitate release of the ack from the felt, at the desired moment.

lnFigs. 7 and 8, modified construction is shown for supporting the fixed repetition lever stop, which will now be described in detail. i w 7 Instead of mounting the arm 38 on the support flange post 24, as in Fig. 1, the

screw 39 is threaded in a wire sun )ort 59 which isbent at anangle, as indicated at 60, and which extends down into and is sup ported iir the support rail 7.- Also in this modified construction, the support 61 is reduced at 62' to form a tongue 63 which is pivoted between the members of a bifurcated support flange 64', at 65. As will be seen more particularly by reference to Fig. 7

8, the reduction of the support 61 affords ample space for positioning the wire 59' in the rail 7 r The support flange post 24 is extended so as to provide the hammer rest 66 preferably v formedof the felt 67 and cloth 68. It is the function of this rest 66 to absorb the shock of the hammer shank 1-2 resultingfrom its descent after the key has been released. This will prevent the placing. of an undue strain upon the action which would otherwise occur. By placing the rest 66 upon the extremity of the support flange post 24 it is possible to make every piece comprising the action particularly the support flange post 24 and support 25, of'the greatest simplicity thereby materially reducing thecost of manufacture.

It will now be seen that a part'of every unit of the action, namely, each support 25 with its corresponding jack46 and repetition lever 30 is mounted upon an individual flange post 24 so that each separate unit can readily be withdrawn from the action by detaching post 24. In other words, applicant desires to assert the importance of avoiding a hammer rest rail, extending longitudinally of the action. In the use of a hammer rest rail, the entire rail must be withdrawn in order to adjust one unit.

A further feature of novelty will now be clear which consists in extending the post Q-t. so as not only to provide a fixed hammer rest on top thereof, in contradistinction to a hammer rest formed by a longitudinal rail, but also, to provide means for attaching stop arm 38. This latter feature is of the utmost importance because it enables applicant to provide the stop 40 at a point remote from the jack end of the repetition lever 30 and therefore it is not necessary to slot the repetition lever 30 for projection therethrough of the upper end 52 of the jack 46. By reason of this construction, the upper end 52 of jack d6 may engage the felt 34 throughout the transverse area thereof. Now this not only greatly diminishes wear because of the increased surface of contact, but it also avoids the provision of a slot in the repetition lever.

It will be noted that the jack stop 53, which is mounted on the support 25, functions to prevent the jack from movement away from under the repetition lever to more than the necessary extent, and I consider it a novel feature to mount this stop upon the support. This stop does not require adjustment as it is not desirable to hold the jack from movement away from or forwardly from under the repetition lever to more than a predetermined extent.

It is believed that the advantages and utility of my invention will be fully understood from the foregoing description, and while I have herein shown and described specific forms of my invention, I do not wish to be limited thereto except for such limitations as the claims may import.

I claim 2- 1. A grand piano action comprising a support, a repetition lever, a jack mounted directly on said support for movement into and out of actuating relation with said lever, and a stop mounted directly on said support for limiting movement of said jack away from said lever, substantially as described.

2. A grand piano action comprising a support, a repetition lever, a jack mounted on said support for movement into and out of actuating relation to said lever, a stop mounted on said support for limiting retractive movement of said jack and a regulating button on said jack to limit movement of said jack in a forward direction, substantially as described.

3. A grand piano action comprising a support, a repetition lever, a jack mounted on said support for movement into and out of actuating relation with said lever, a stop carried by said support which extends past and about said jack for limiting retractive movement of the latter, and a regulating button carried by said jack to limit movement of the jack in the opposite direction.

a. A grand piano action comprising a support rail, a plurality of flange posts secured thereto, supports pivoted to said flange posts, repetition levers pivoted to and actuated by the upward movement of the said supports, and stops carried by the said flange posts for limiting the upward movement of the repetition levers.

5. A grand piano action comprising a support flange rail, a plurality of independent flange posts secured to and rising from said rail, and a support pivotally connected with each post, each post having ahammer rest, substantially as described.

6. A grand piano action comprising a support rail, a. plurality of upright independent flange posts secured to and rising from said rail, and a support pivoted to each post, each post rising above the point of connection of its support therewith and having a stop for limiting upward movement of the repetition lever, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I hereby afiix my signature.

VINSON H. BROWN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, I). G. 

